Orton c



(No Model.)

0. O. LITTLE.

WEATHER STRIP. No. 669,582. 7 Patented 0013.13, 1896.

WI TTI ESSES- IqVerfLm-Y- {5% 111% E-Liu1E UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORTON C. LITTLE, OF MENASHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T MAXIMILLIAN M. SCHOLTZ, OF SAME PLACE.

WEATHER-STRIP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,582, dated October 13, 1896.

Applicationfiled January 10, 1895. Serial No. 534,420. (No model.)

To all whom it 12mg concern:

Be it known that I, Ouron G. LITTLE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Menasha, in the county of Winnebago and State of \Viseonsin, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vv'eather-Strips, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a weather-strip to be attached to a door near its lower end and upon the side of the door adjoining the room into which the door swings, extending from said door beyond the threshold, and when the door is closed resting upon the floor, thereby shutting off all air-currents from passing under said door; and the objects of my improvement are, first, to provide aweatherstrip for attachment to adoor which extends inward beyond its threshold and has a lip upon its outer edge for bearing upon the floor second, to provide a weather-strip having means for attachment to a door which are capable of being adjusted, whereby the normal position of the lower side of its outer lip is to rest upon the floor or to be elevated above it for a free swinging movement of the door and to be automatically lowered to the floor by the closing action of said door; third, to provide a weather strip-operating arm which is capable of adjustment thereon for the purpose of the automatic lowering of the outer edge of said strip a greater or less distance by the action of closing the door upon which said weather-strip is applied. I attain these objects by the construction and arrangement of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front view of two doors, each having one of my improved weather-strips applied to it, the left-hand door being slightly open and showing the weather-strip elevated from the floor. Fig. 2 is a vertical elevation of the left-hand door as it appears in looking at it from the meeting-point of the doors, the door beingslightly open and the weather-strip raised from the floor. Fig. 3 is a similar View of said door closed and the weather-strips outer lip bearing upon the floor. Fig. r is an elevation of the rear side of the weather-strip, showing a strip of felt along its rear edge, the springloops by which it is attached to the door, its lower lip, a strip of felt thereon, and

pieces of felt upon each end of the weatherstrip. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the weather-strip. Fig. 6 is an elevation of a staple used forsecuriug the connecting-loops to the Weatherstrip. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the arm for attachment to the weather-strip at the latch edge of the door. elevation in perspective and nearly actual size of the spring-loop, one form of it, for attaching the Weatherstrip to the (1001'. Fig. 9 is a modified form of said springloop, and Fig. 10 is a plan view of a button for raising and retaining in an elevated position the weather-strip when applied to one of a plurality of doors in one frame. Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are upon the same scale and the remaining ones upon an enlarged scale.

Similar numerals and letters indicate like parts in the several views.

1 indicatesthe floor of a room; 2, a doorframe; 3, a threshold therein; 4 4 doors hung upon hinges 5 forswinging outward from said frame; (3 6, weather-strips; 7 7 7", wire loops for connecting the weather-strip to the door; 8, screws by which theloops are secured to the door; 8, washers upon the screws; 9, an arm for attachment to the weather-strip near the latch edge of the door; 10, a fined stop for said arm to strike as the door closes and to thereby throw the outer edge of the weather-strip downward upon the floor; 11, staples for securing the wire loops to the weathenstrip; 12, a piece of heavy felt or like impressible material upon each end of the weather-strip; 13, a strip of similar material upon both the rear edge and bottom of the lower lip of the weather-strip; 14:, a wire for raising the weather-strip; 15, a button to which said wire is connected; 1G, a screw for securing said button to the door; 17, the doorlatch.

The weathenstrips are to be attached upon the inside of doors,excepting upon outside doors which swing outward, when they should be upon their outside. They preferably cousist of a strip of wood, but may be made of other material, and are of a length corre' sponding with the width of the door upon which they are to be attached and of a width sufficient to extend outward from the door, so as to allow the lower side of their outer Fig. 8 is an p edge to bear upon the floor beyond the threshold. Their ends are out upon an angle, the end next to the hinged edge of the door for allowing the door to swing open sufficiently and the other end so that there is no needless projection thereof in opening the door.

Both ends of the weather-strip are covered with a piece of felt or like impressible material 12, which is cut to the proper form for closing the ends against the passage of air under and between the Weatherstrip and threshold or floor. The edge of the weatherstrip adjoining the door and also the lower side of lip 6" are provided with a strip of material similar to that upon its ends, as above described, which extends along their entire length for effecting an air-tight joint between the weather-strip and the partswith which it comes in contact. These pieces of felt may be secured to the weather-strip by nails or by other suitable means.

For connecting the weather-strip and door a hinge of the usual construction falls short of a satisfactory result, a connection having some degree of resiliency being required. I

therefore use wire loops '7, 7, or 7". The loop 7 consists of theshort bend or loop a, the parallel wires 1), the bends c c, and wires d (1, extending outward at right angles with the wires I) Z) and in the plane of said wires, the bend e, and prong f, which is ataright angle with the wires (1 andwith the plane aforesaid. lVhcre more resiliency is required in the connectingdoop, the modification 7 Fig. 8, having the bend e and prong f near each end of the wire connection, is used, but where no resilient effect is required the modification 7 as it is applied to the weather-strip midway its ends and having the wires cl d terminated short of the bend c and prong f, is used.

A slight groove is formed in the outside face of the felt 13 upon the rear edge of the weather-strip,in which to embed the wires cl d, whereby said wires and their securing-staples will not project beyond the face of said felt strip. The end of the prong f is driven into the rear edge of the weather-strip and a staple 11 driven at a point near the angle 0 and inclosing the wire d for securing said wire to the weather-strip. These connecting-loops are secured to the door by means of a screw 8, which enters the loop near the bend a. Thus secured a torsional movement is allowed to the wire (1, which movement, in connection with the resiliency of the wires b 1), produces a spring connection for the Weatherstrip. If of the modification Fig. 9, two staples should be used for securing the short wire. This modification is made rights and lefts, one being secured to the weather-strip near each of its ends. Midway of its ends a connectingloop 7 similar in form to the before-described ones, excepting that the bend e and prong f are omitted, is secured to the weatherstrip by staples 11. For doors of usual widths these three connections are sufficient, but for doors of greater or less width more or less connections of one or the other forms may be required. A washer S is interposed between the screw-head and wire of the loop.

Before securing the weather-strips to the door the connections or loops may be bent for suiting the normal position of the outer and lower lip of the weather-strip, to be either raised above the floor for permitting the door toswing freely or to bear upon the fioor, as may be required. The former position is required upon single swinging doors and also upon the one of a plurality of doors which is usually provided with a latch, as is shown at the left-hand door in Figs. 1 and 2, and the latter position for the remaining doors of Said plurality, as is shown at the right of Fig. 1 and in Fig. 3. For raising the weather-strip for opening the door in the latter case a wire or string 14 is connected to the weather-strip, extended upward and connected with a button 15, which is pivoted to the door by a screw 16. By turning the free end of the button around to the right and exceeding a half-circle the weather-strip will be raised clear of the floor, the wire striking the stop 15 and preventing the further revolution of said button, thereby retaining the weather-strip elevated from, the floor. No claim is made to the button, as itwill be evident that many simple devices may be used.

The weather-strip may be applied to one or to any number of doors in any one frame as it is applied to the door at the right of Fig. 1, the normal position of its outer lip being to bear upon the floor, or upon the carpet thereon, should there: be one. For single doors and the one of a plurality, as shown at the left of Fig. 1, the normal position of said lip is to be raised from the floor for allowing the door to swing freely. The arm 9 should be adjusted transversely of the weather-strip, whereby as the door closes the extreme end 9' will strike the stop 10 and force the lip 6 downward upon the floor. Upon opening the door the resiliency of the connecting-wires will permit the weather-strip to assume its normal position. The arm is adapted for adjustment transversely of the weather-strip by means of its fastening-screw holes being slotted. The arm being moved outward from the door, the strip will be depressed less, and inward more. 7

The stop 10 may be any suitable piece and be driven into or secured in a suitable manner upon the part which is opposite to the outer edge of the door, upon which the weather-strip having the arm 9 may be applied.

Having described my invent-ion, what I claim, and. desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a weather-strip for the lower end of doors, the combination of a piece of material having a form for resting upon the floor and for its attachment to a door, and having a strip of felt, or like impressible material attached to said piece between it, the floor and door, and also upon its ends for fitting said floor and door, a torsional wire spring-hinge consisting of a prong for insertion into the edge of said material adjoining said door and through said felt, thence extending along said edge and felt strip a distance sufficient for providing therein for the required spring of the hinge by the torsion of said wire and being loosely connected to said edge and embedded in said felt, thence being bent into a loop having parallel side wires arranged at a right angle with the length of the weatherstrip, said loop being adapted for receiving a screw for attachment to a door and for its vertical adjustment thereon, the Wire then being returned to, embedded in said felt, extended along, and secured to said edge of the weather-strip, substantially as described.

2. In a weather-strip for the lower end of doors, the combination of a piece of material havinga form for resting upon the floor and for its attachment to a door, and having a strip of felt, or like impressible material attached to said piece between it, the floor and door, and also upon its ends for fitting said floor and door, a torsional wire spring-hinge consisting of a prong for insertion into the edge of said material adjoining said door and through said felt, thence extending along said edge and felt strip a distance sufficient for providing therein for the required spring of the hinge by the torsion of said wire and being loosely connected to said edge and embedded in said felt, thence being bent into a loop having parallel side Wires arranged at a right angle with the length of the weatherstrip, said loop being adapted for receiving a screw for attachment to a door and for its vertical adjustment thereon, the wire then being returned to, embedded. in said felt, extended along, and secured to said edge of the weather-strip, said hinge being arranged to normally hold the outer lower edge of said weather-strip elevated above, and free from the floor, and an arm upon the weather-strip near the latch edge of the door for which said strip is fitted, said arm being arranged for striking a fixed stop upon the door-janib, and thereby to press said outer lower edge downward upon the floor, substantially as set forth.

3. In a weather-strip for doors and for preventing air-currents from passing under the same, a wire spring 0 annecting-hinge, formed of a single piece of wire and having the bends a, c, e, the parallel wires h, b, the wires cl, fl, adapted to be embedded in the felt of the weather-strip, and a prong at one or both ends of the wire of said hinge arranged at substantially a right angle with the wire (Z, substantially as described.

ORTON C. LITTLE. lVitnesses MERRITT L. CAMPBELL, FLORENCE B. Morr.

Correction in Letters Patent No. 569,582.

It is hereby certified that the name of the assignee in Letters Patent No. 569,582, granted October 13, 1896, upon the application of Orton G. Little, of Menasha, Wiscousin, for an improvement in Weather-Strips, was erroneously written and printed Maximillian M. Sehoitz, Whereas said name should have been Written and printed flIam-imt'll'icm M. Schoetz; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed, oountersigned, and sealed this 3d day of November, A. 1)., 1896.

[SEAL] JNO. M. REYNOLDS,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

Gountersigned:

S. T. FISHER,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

